University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Central Michigan
Hot Shooting Leads Gophers Past Central Michigan, 76-56
12/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 13, 2011
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MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota shot 57 percent from the field, and 11 of 13 players scored, during its 76-56 win over Central Michigan on Tuesday at Williams Arena.
The Gophers became the first team in the nation to reach 11 victories, improving to 11-1 overall and 9-0 at home. CMU, which has not played a home game since Nov. 15, fell to 4-5 on the season.
Junior guard Julian Welch led Minnesota with 15 points, while sophomore guard Austin Hollins and freshman guard Joe Coleman each had 12 points, and sophomore guard Maverick Ahanmisi also reached double-figures with a career-high 10 points. Junior forward Rodney Williams led Minnesota with eight rebounds, while adding a team-best five assists, five points, and three blocked shots.
CMU was led by a game-high 19 points, including 15 points in the second half, from Trey Zeigler. Austin McBroom was 5-of-5 from three-point range to finish with 16 points, while Derek Jackson had 15 points and three steals.
The Gophers jumped out to a 4-0 lead, with Austin Hollins driving the lane for a layup to open the scoring, and then finding senior forward Ralph Sampson III in the lane for a jumper.
But Andre Coimbra scored on a put-back, followed by three-pointers from Jackson and McBroom to put the Chippewas up, 8-4.
Austin Hollins cut the CMU lead to 8-6 by getting an offensive rebound and laying it in, but McBroom knocked down his second trey in as many tries to stretch the Chippewas' early lead to 11-6.
Central Michigan made three of its first four three-pointers, while Minnesota missed its first four attempts from beyond the arc before Coleman made a wide-open three to cut it to 11-9.
After a free throw by Olivier Mbaigoto pushed CMU's edge back to three points, Coleman tied the score by driving the right baseline for a layup. Coleman was fouled on the play, and added the free throw to knot the game at 12-12 with 10:24 left in the half.
Minnesota recaptured the lead when Coleman found freshman forward Oto Osenieks in the left corner for a three-pointer, capping a 9-1 run to give the Gophers a 15-12 advantage. A four-point play by Welch made it 19-14 in favor of the home team, but McBroom's third trifecta of the game cut Minnesota's lead to 19-17.
But Welch kicked off a 13-0 run for the Gophers by getting a friendly roll on a jumper and Williams made it 23-17 on a two-handed dunk after slicing through the lane.
Minnesota's run continued, as Austin Hollins cut down the right side of the lane for a layup, and Ahanmisi added two free throws after being fouled on a fastbreak to make it a ten-point lead at 27-17.
Welch then added a three-point play and Sampson scored on a layup to give the Gophers a 23-5 run over a 10:02 span and make the lead 32-17 before Jackson made a jumper for the Chippewas to end a scoreless streak of 6:17.
Sampson scored just before the half to give Minnesota a 34-23 lead, as the Gophers made 13-of-25 (.520) field goals. Welch paced Minnesota with nine points, while Austin Hollins, Sampson, and Coleman each had six points.
CMU was held to just 8-of-29 (.276) field goals, and the team's leading scorer and rebounder, Zeigler, was limited to four points without a rebound.
Minnesota quickly built its lead back to 14 points early in the second half, as Ahanmisi drove the lane for a finger-roll, and Welch reached double-figures to make it 38-24 and force a timeout by CMU head coach Ernie Zeigler.
The Chippewas used a 6-2 run, with four points from McBroom, to pull within 40-29, but Austin Hollins made a three-pointer from the corner opposite Minnesota's bench to push it back to 43-29.
Jackson made a long trey from the top of the key to keep CMU within 11, but the Gophers answered with an 8-3 run which included a three-point play by Coleman and a three-pointer by freshman guard Andre Hollins to give the Gophers a 51-35 lead. Minnesota's lead grew as the Gophers made 7-of-8 field goals to start the second half.
Sophomore guard Chip Armelin added a free throw and a jumper to make it 54-35, and freshman center Elliott Eliason made the second of two free throws to give Minnesota its first 20-point lead with just under 10 minutes remaining.
Zeigler scored five points to cut Minnesota's lead back to 15 points, 59-44, before Ahanmisi made back-to-back three-pointers to put the Gophers up 66-47.
The Gophers wrap up their six-game home stand when they play host to North Dakota State on Thursday, Dec. 22. Tipoff at Williams Arena is set for 7:00 p.m. (CT), and the game will be streamed live on Gophers All-Access, as well as at BTN.com.
--By Michael Molde, GopherSports.com
